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Battered by the worst recession in decades, vast numbers of Americans see lean times ahead for the long term – and plan to recalibrate their lives accordingly.
There was job security before? I would say since joining the professional world in 2003 you pretty much have to stay on the right side or you are gone. I had a job in 2005 when I started my MBA (was working the Colorado Springs, moved to Denver) that the big boss would walk outside his office and fire some one to keep everyone scared enough to work hard.
LOL...same question I wanted to ask! There has never been job security, not even for doctors or medical personnel..The recession is cyclical and comes around every so many years. This will hopefully end soon BUT let's always keep in mind that another one like it (or worse) will be here again at some point in the future, so let's not get comfy! Let's try to always be ready by minimizing our debts and maximizing our savings
I'd been thinking how much I'd love to buy a house in the next few years but with the way things have been going (both myself and my fiance lost our jobs only 4 months from each other) I dont know when I'll feel like I have a secure enough job? If ever.
I heard at my unemployment groups that the average term for an american worker at a job now is like 2-1/2 to 3 years. That's all. (don't know where that study was from though sorry) The way of the future is that the corps will all hire us as temps. they do not want any overhead at all. And they won't have to pay insurance and other benefits either.
That is why it is very important to have skills that are easily transferable to any industry, because the "hot industry" today, will be dead in 5-10 years. And you will have to continually jump ship. And you must continually make sure your skills are top notch and up to date, even though your company does not keep up to date with the latest. You need to.
I'll play devil's advocate. It used to be that jobs were quite secure. Then came the late 80's, early 90's when job growth was so high that workers began jumping from job to job every 1-2 years for increased pay and incentives. As a result, wages increased disproportionately and the bottom line slowly began to erode. Bring on the dot.com era when the mantra was every "man" for him/herself. Not "show me the money," but "throw me the money." This occurred at all levels of a company. Workers showed no loyalty and, as a result of increased bottom line pressures, companies dropped their loyalties to all except shareholders. Unions became shortsighted and only focused on this year's contract with no vision toward the future while company senior execs couldn't care less if they ran the company into the ground so long as shareholders couldn't see what was going on in their company and their golden parachutes were enriched annually.
At some point in the past 20-years, loyalty on the part of the employers, unions and workers became the mantra for "it's somebody's fault, but it's certainly not my fault."
Current, I feel very secure. Company is profitable, has been around for 25+ years, has had modest but steady growth. Owner is not going anywhere, and not interested in selling unless it's an absurdly good offer. (His words, and he means lots more than it's worth.)
Last, company was owned by a venture capitalist. He got in, made money, sold at a profit. I was there 3.5 years. New owners made me an offer to stay on, but it required relocation so I declined.
Company prior, Fortune 200, been around for over 100 years, profitable even in these times. I was there five years and one month--long enough to make sure I got all my pension/profit sharing, etc. They aren't for sale, not in a position for anyone to take them over, and the average employee has been there over 20 years. I could ahve stayed until I retired.
Before that, I worked there for about two years, owned by a sole proprietor. I saw the writing on the wall and got out two months before the company was sold. I most likely would have kept my job--for awhile. Two years after the sale the entire company was unrecognizable (they basically jsut wanted the name) and had moved 200 miles away.
Before that, worked there for about a year but couldn't deal with the pissing match between my boss and the guy that wanted to be my boss, so I quit. They are still in business, and I most likely could ahve stayed on until I retired had I wanted to. (I wasn't directly affected by the power struggle, but didn't like that senior management was allowing it to go on. I had to take a leave for surgery, and during my recovery I took time to explore other options.)
So, about half of them were secure jobs that I could have stayed at long term, the other half weren't. Bottom line, there are good, long term, secure jobs out there. You jsut have to know where to find them.
I'll play devil's advocate. It used to be that jobs were quite secure. Then came the late 80's, early 90's when job growth was so high that workers began jumping from job to job every 1-2 years for increased pay and incentives.
Oh yeah, you are completely right...however it mixes in too. I know in my own life if I had stayed at my last company I might have been able to reach a 3% raise per year. Plus if I was promoted I would be limited in the compensation I could get in taking a new position (I think the max raise was like 15% in promotion, no matter the difference between the salaries). While when I job jumped I got an instant 50% raise (the reason it's so high is because I had just received my MBA)...so being loyal I would have been completely screwed.
I heard at my unemployment groups that the average term for an american worker at a job now is like 2-1/2 to 3 years. That's all. (don't know where that study was from though sorry) The way of the future is that the corps will all hire us as temps. they do not want any overhead at all. And they won't have to pay insurance and other benefits either. That is why it is very important to have skills that are easily transferable to any industry, because the "hot industry" today, will be dead in 5-10 years. And you will have to continually jump ship. And you must continually make sure your skills are top notch and up to date, even though your company does not keep up to date with the latest. You need to.
right now it seems that transferable skills are a given. but you best have skills in their specific industry or they wont even look at you...
"Job security is something from our past. The best we can hope for now is employment security."
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